Situation: player's shot ends up on cart path covered with stones. Path has 3' stone walls on both sides. Outside of walls are high banked dune hills.

Drop: player is clearly entitled to free drop.

Question: player drops ball on grass dune and it rolls down toward top of wall but still on grass. To hit ball from normal stance player would have stand on top of stone wall. Is this a legal drop or does player need full stance relief too? Is top of wall considered part of the path he's getting relief from? If player modifies stance from normal so he can play ball, is it now legal even though a normal stance would have been on wall?

My two cents of understanding:
- if you are going to take relief, you must take full relief (meaning that you could not find a flat lie with little rough to drop if it still meant your stance was on the path) to the nearest point of relief. Additionally, the nearest point may create a further problem; ie., trees, bushes, etc., for you are not entitled to relief dependent on where you would like to hit your next shot from.

In your case, taking relief but then droping the ball in such a way that it rolls back into the problem for which you are taking relief, allows you to drop again. If after two drops, it again rolls and does not offer relief, you are entitled to place the ball where it first hit the ground.

I believe the top of the wall would still be considered part of the obstruction.

However, if the path is inside a marked hazard line, no free relief is allowed. You are in the hazard first, even though your ball may be on a path.

I'm sure someone will offer the citation, but I don't have a rules book with me. Additionally, as a sidebar to a normal stance part of your question -- if for instance, your ball is near a cart path and as a right handed player you take your normal stance and find a tree or bush that prevents you from hitting that shot, you may then choose to take a left handed setup. If that then places your feet on the cart path, you may ask for relief.

Nearest relief would have been on the other side if i understand your story correctly. If your a right handed golfer 99% of the time your nearest point of relief is on the left side of the path because that is the closest relief in which your ball is playable and you have a stance. Your ball is only a couple inches off the path whereas the other side it would have to be moved a couple feet in order for you to stand away from the path. Then you get a club length from that spot. You are entitled to relief so if when you dropped it rolled down the dune and up against the wall you then get to place it.

My memory may be faulty, but as I recall he is entitled to another free drop. He would be standing on top of a man-made object (wall), assuming a normal address position, and this would be regarded as similar to standing on top of a sprinkler head. A player is allowed to address the ball from a normal stance. After two drops he could place the ball within the allowed club length no nearer the hole.

it wasnt me (lh), my opponent (rh), and yes ball was much closer to right side of path than left. when he dropped and ball stopped, it meant normal stance placed his feet on top of wall. which was much better for him because it was flat and more stable than standing in rough on a steep incline. just want to know if he was entitled to hit it that way.

He was not entitled to hit it that way.

He must take COMPLETE relief from the cartpath.

is stone wall abutting cart path part of cart path?

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